


Missed-Communications

by dragonmastriss



Category: Free!
Genre: Christmas, Fun, Holiday, M/M, Mishaps, One-Shot, Snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-11
Updated: 2014-12-11
Packaged: 2018-03-01 00:29:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2752805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonmastriss/pseuds/dragonmastriss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sousuke is late, but Nitori doesn't know why! Did his shopping trip go strangely ary? Is he lost in the snow? Or was Nitori just forgotten for other people?<br/>Will Sousuke find the perfect gift? Will Nitori be upset that's he's late?<br/>All these questions are answered in this holiday-ish themed one-shot!</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missed-Communications

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick fluffy peice I wrote for my best friend who is essentially my other half.  
> I wrote it on my phone and didn't have much editing time.... Hope you like it. :)
> 
> \----------------------

* * *

A HAPPY CHRISTMAS FREE! AU  
Missed-Communication

 

* * *

 

Nitori checked the clock on his desk again. Compared it to the time on his watch, then compared that to the time on the face of his cell phone. They all matched, and within five minuets they would all inform him that it had been 6 hours since he had last heard from Sousuke.

Personally, anyway.

In about 20 mins, it would be 3 hours since he received the voice mail from Sousuke, a voicemail left because Nitori was taking his last winter class final.

He checked his phone again, checked Rin's twitter feed too, just to make sure that he wasn't talking about hanging out with Sousuke.  
Just to make sure he hadn't been forgotten or left out.

But there was no news.

Nitori smacked his hand loudly against the desk, trying to snap his thoughts into order. He whimpered a moment at its sting, but it had served it's purpose.

Of course Rin and Sousuke weren't together, Rin was taking a make-up final.

But where was Sousuke? He said that they were going to meet up tonight; "Grab dinner or something" to celebrate finals being over.

Nitori blushed, then covered his face with his hands, although no one was around to see him turn red at the prospect of finally having the chance to go out with Sousuke, like a real date!

Unless...

The blush burned from embarrassed excitement into fear almost as soon as the thought crossed his mind.

What if Sousuke HAD forgotten about him. Or, What if he has gotten sick and forgotten to cancel? Or, what if he was too busy with something and Nitori had been put too far down on Sousuke's priority list to be informed? Or--

Nitori's phone buzzed on the desktop and he jumped, only to discover it was Momo that had texted him, not Sousuke.

'Find a present for him yet?' Momo asked, and Nitori sighed. He looked at the Christmas present he'd finally decided to give to Sousuke and had to look away for fear of regretting it.

He hadn't bought anything in the end, having fallen completely flat in the idea department. What do you give someone who is so wonderful and perfect and never asks for anything, ever?

So, (he informed Momo via text), he'd made a photo calendar that featured many of Sousuke's favorite athletes. And a few pictures of him and his friends.

'Sounds cool! I wish I'd thought of something like that!' Was Momo's ever confident response.

Nitori sighed and checked the clocks again. Checked his phone again. But still, there was nothing newer than the voice mail from a few hours ago.

Nitori checked the message again, listened for what felt like the 10th time (it had only been 5) to see if there was anything he missed in Sousuke's message but all he discovered was the same information he held before: Sousuke was going to the store for a few things. He would be back in a couple hours.

Suddenly, a wave of anxiety passed over him.

Sousuke was out shopping. In the cold. Alone.

He hadn't answered any of his messages and he hadn't tried to contact Nitori about changing plans.

Mind spinning so fast he thought he couldn't stand, Nitori came to the conclusion that felt simultaneously logical and ridiculous but also completely possible. Sousuke was in danger.  
Somewhere out in the freezing cold, he was lying injured. Nitori jumped from his seat and began to pull his coat and hat on, his mind filled to spilling with images of scary outcomes he would discover. Sousuke must have tripped down the stairs somewhere or slipped on a patch of ice--

"Hold on, hold on, I'm checking!" A sharp and familiar voice was cursing outside the door to Nitori's dorm room and he scrambled to open it, phone on one hand, and one boot in the other.

"Thank goodness, senpai! Have you seen--"

"What are you doing here, Nitori?" Rin rolled his eyes at his younger classmates' breathless and frantic face. "Sousuke is waiting for you outside. He thought you left for dinner already."

"I-I was waiting for him--"

"Just go," Rin waved him off and continued down the hall.

Nitori stated after him for a moment, completely puzzled before jumping and slamming the door shut.

He stumbled down the hall, pulling his boot on as he went and zipping his coat as he made a sprint for the outside doors. He had barely made it 4 steps into the cold snow, when he ran into Sousuke, literally.

\---

For Sousuke, today had been an awful day. It started out okay he was relaxed and warm, he had no finals left to take or complain about, not one obligation to complete. Until Rin had to remind him that he STILL had no present for Nitori.

The next few hours comprised of searching through websites and racking his brain for every bit and piece of potential present material.  
But Nitori wanted nothing. Ever. It was equally cute and distressing to Sousuke at that moment.

Determined to let off the stress and steam of trying to come up wih something, and needing to kill time before Nitori got out of his final and would be relaxed and ready to hang out for the night, Sousuke decided to go to the mall, a plan that inevitably failed him.Running into Rin again, on the way reminded him he needed to leave Nitori a message in case he didn't hear a phone call or text in the stores, but that moment, leaving that voice mail while standing next to Rin in the snow in front of the soda machine, was the last time he saw it during the whole of his uneventful and completely fruitless shopping trip.

 

In the end, he had nothing, and when he finally realized how much time had passed he had no phone, no gift, and no way to contact the only person that mattered at that moment.

"Oy? Is that Sousuke?" He heard a voice behind him and turned to find a trio of his classmates, arms laden with bags and food. "Rin's looking for you. He find you?" One of them asked. And Sousuke shook his head.

"No, I lost my phone. I haven't heard from anyone since I got here."

"Oh no!" The girl of the group cried out. "Have you retraced your steps? Asked around the shops?"

"Yeah, no one found it."

"Here, wanna give Rin a call, so you can tell him?" One of the guys held out his phone and Sousuke thanked him with the most enthusiastic manner he could manage in his exhaustion.

"Sousuke. I have your phone. You dropped it in the snow. You coming back?"

"Oh. That explains it, yeah... What time is it?"

"Almost 6:30, why?"

"Shit."

Rin laughed on the other end of the line, "you're picking up bad habits hanging out with me."

"Hold onto my phone, I'll meet you at the from of the school." He hung up, thanked his classmates again and took off running as fast as he could. 6:30 meant he was late.

Beyond late.

5:30 was the planned time, and he wouldn't be there until 7 and he had no gift to explain or apologize with.

Finally back at the school, he retrieved his phone from Rin, and ran to the dining hall, but Nitori wasn't in there.

"Rin," he called the red head, who answered with groggy annoyance.

"Is Nitori in his room?"

"How would I know?" Rin grumbled, but Sousuke could hear Rin making his way down the hall.

"Well, is he there?"

"Hold on, hold on, I'm checking--"  
Sousuke didn't need to hear their exchange to get his answer so he ran, full speed toward the front doors, until he crashed into someone, running out those same doors.

 

"Sorry sorry!" Squeaked the light voice of Nitori and Sousuke grinned broadly as the recognition leaked into his boyfriend's features.

They hugged for a moment before Sousuke pushed them apart, bowing down.

"I'm very sorry I am so late. I was looking for a present for you but I didn't find one," he explained.

"oh, that's okay. You don't need to get me anything. Ah! I couldn't find anything for you either, I had to make your present, but I left it in my room..." Sousuke's head was barely a foot away, his soft messy dark hair just a step away from Nitori's lips. "I'll have to get it..."

"Ai-chan," Sousuke straightened up. "Are you upset?"

"No, it's okay. I'm just glad you're okay." He responded, face pink.  
"You thought I wasn't okay?"

"Well, you weren't answering your phone or responding to my messages so I thought..."

"I'm sorry."

Nitori grinned, despite the seriousness of the situation and stepped forward to wrap his arms around Sousuke's tall frame. Surprised, Sousuke took a moment before his arms circled the man that was way too forgiving and loving and caring and wonderful.

"Is it... Snowing?" He asked suddenly, feeling the light drops of ice on his face.

"Yeah, it is!" Nitori cheered. "I know it's early but... Merry Christmas, Sousuke."

"Merry Christmas, Ai." And Sosuke bent down to give his perfect match, a kiss.


End file.
